Paradise
by catzlovecheeze
Summary: Paradise isn't paradise without Joel. Ellie learns this after an explosion sends her to the afterlife. Minor spoilers for The Last of Us. Oneshot.


Lids lift from green eyes, and she can see the sunlight that she feels running its fingers through her hair. She sits up, looking all around, taking in the sight; a perfectly circular meadow, soft green grass. Lush, full trees form a wall to the circle.

Oh.

She's dead.

Her mind flickers back to just a few seconds ago, right before she woke up to this place. Walking past the oil tanks, someone shouting, and then the boom, the light, the heat. The feeling of being thrown to the ground by the force, a mouthful of rocks and grass, dirt scratching her hands as she landed.

And now she was here, and there wasn't a scratch or burn on her.

Her mind flickered back a little farther, to before she went near those oil tanks, to this morning, and she felt a guilt creep into her chest, felt it squeeze her heart, cracking through the calm and peacefulness that was as prevalent as air here. The fight she had with Joel this morning, the last words she said before she left.

"I hate you!"

What had the fight been about? She can't remember. She doesn't care either. She'll never see Joel again, and that thought is unbearable by itself, but it's somehow made worse by the fact that the last thing she ever said to him was that she hated him.

The guilt and the sadness consumes her now, pushing the peace from her. It slips from her pores, lifts into the air, leaves her to her sadness. She looks to the sky, as if she might see Joel there, might be able to tell him.

"I'm sorry, Joel," She says, her eyes starting to sting from the unspilled tears.

"He wouldn't want you to feel like that, you know."

Ellie turns around sharply, startled, to see a girl a few yards behind her. The girl smiles, her white dress still in the windless day.

"Wh-who are you? Are…are you dead?"

The girl laughs. "Most everyone here is."

"Are… you an angel?"

She grins, taking a seat next to Ellie. "Something like that."

"Well, what do you mean, 'he wouldn't want me to feel like this?' How can you tell what I feel? And who's 'he'?" Ellie said, her tone bordering confrontational.

"You know who he is. Joel." The girl stated, unruffled by Ellie's tone. "And I can tell how you feel because it's written all over your face." She stretched her arms behind her, leaning back, looking up at the sky. "He wouldn't want you to be sad. If he died, you would want him to be peaceful, not sad, right?"

"But the last thing I said to him was 'I hate you.'" Ellie said, trying to convey the reasoning behind her guilt to this girl.

"He knows you didn't mean it." The girl said. "And you can tell him so yourself when you see him again."

Ellie turned her head, glaring at the girl. "Telling me that I'm gonna have to wait another twenty years for Joel to die before I can apologize doesn't make me feel any better."

The girl smiled, turning back to look at Ellie. "You won't. You're gonna go back very soon."

Her anger turning to shock, Ellie all but stood up, staring at the girl. "What!?"

The girl just kept on smiling, regarding Ellie with a fond expression. "It's not your time yet. You've still got many years ahead of you."

Ellie snorted, relaxing, rolling her eyes. "I don't know if you've been dead long enough to not know, but that's not how things work anymore. Maybe before the world went to shit, some people could have a fairy tale little 'deus ex machina' where they come back from the dead and everything's just dandy, but now people die every day. People die and they don't come back."

"Well, consider yourself the exception." The girl replied. "I'm sure you'd like it here, but it's just not time for you yet. I'm a bit sad that I won't get to know you better, but I'm glad you'll be able to live to the fullest, like I wasn't able to." She said, looking a bit wistful. She turned back to Ellie, her wistful expression turning playful. "Besides, if you stayed, who would take care of my dad?"

Ellie sat a moment in confusion, before suddenly it clicked, and she looked at the short blond hair, the blue eyes. The likeliness to the girl holding up the trophy in the photo; the one with Joel's arm slung around her shoulder.

"Sarah…?"

The girl smiles, and Ellie tries to place her features, see if this really is Joel's daughter, but she has to squint; her vision's getting hazy, the girl blurring with the sky and the trees and the light. She can still hear her voice, though it's growing slowly fainter.

"You've gotta go back. He's waiting for you." The girl says. Ellie can't see her face at all now, just the white of her dress. And the light. "You're his daughter now too, you know. I guess I'll have to wait a while to get to know my sister. But that's ok." A faint laugh, and Ellie feels like she's floating. The light is so bright, too bright. It hurts her eyes. She closes them, and she hears the last of the soft Texas accent. "After all, I've got forever."

Then she isn't floating, there's a mattress beneath her, and paper that crackles when she shifts on it. She opens her eyes, and the light stings her eyes. As her eyes adjust, other stings make themselves known; along with aches and burning feelings. She groans, trying to sit up.

"Ellie?!"

She looks over, and Joel is sitting next to her hospital bed. He's shocked, and as she turns to look at him, his face turns to relief.

She's about to say something, anything, but his arms are suddenly around her; a loose embrace, mindful of her burns. She wraps her bandaged arms gingerly around his neck. Even the lightest pressure on them hurts, but that doesn't matter right now.

"I thought I'd lost you." He says, his breath blowing back loose strands of her hair; the ones that've escaped from her ponytail. He pulls back, hands resting lightly on her shoulders, looking into her eyes. "I'm so relieved you're ok. I love you, baby girl."

Ellie looks into his eyes, and leans forward, her body aching and protesting, to plant a kiss on his cheek. The fight doesn't matter. It never did, and she could sit here and feel stupid for thinking it did, but she lets herself forget about it. She lets herself focus on what does matter; that she's here, now.

Here with her dad.

"I love you too, Joel."

Catz: This came into my head and I figured I should write it. Basically Ellie dying and coming back, and realizing just how much Joel means to her. I love their father-daughter relationship. So sweet and adorable.

I was just like "can I write something about Sarah?" And I was like, "yeah, I can."

I think this turned out pretty good...how about you? Gimme a little sugar, spice, or something nice (or at least constructive) in that review box, skittles!


End file.
